Automobiles are seen for sale at the Bill Heard Chevrolet dealership at Decatur Boulevard and Alta Drive. Auto and parts sales held steady at $6.7 billion in fiscal 2006, a new report shows. Photo by Jane Kalinowsky.
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CARSON CITY -- Statewide merchants ended the fiscal year with record taxable sales of $48.4 billion -- up a robust 9 percent, the state Department of Taxation reported on Wednesday.
Statewide taxable sales for June totaled $4.5 billion, up 7 percent.
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In Clark County, taxable sales rose by 8 percent in June to nearly $3.3 billion. For the year, Clark County was up 8 percent with $35.6 billion in taxable sales.
Washoe County, which includes Reno, had $691.9 million in June sales, up 5 percent. For the year, Washoe sales totaled $7.25 billion, up 8 percent.
A breakdown of the June sales showed six Nevada counties -- Carson City, Douglas, Humboldt, Lander, Lyon and Pershing -- had decreases, and the other 11 counties had increases.
All 17 counties except Esmeralda County had year-over-year increases.
Statewide, the biggest sales category, sales by bars and restaurants, totaled $8.5 billion for the year, up 7 percent. A breakdown shows that in the Las Vegas area, such sales -- indicators of tourist traffic -- were up 8 percent. The Reno area had an increase of 4 percent year over year.
Auto and parts sales held steady at $6.7 billion from one year to the next; miscellaneous retail stores were up 3 percent at $4.83 billion; general merchandise stores were up 6 percent, at $4.03 billion; and building material-garden equipment sales totaled $3.47 billion, up 9 percent.
Merchant wholesalers-durable goods sales totaled $3.45 billion for the year, up 18 percent; and furniture store sales totaled $2.63 billion, up 2 percent.
The state's 2 percent share of the sales tax totaled $985 million, up just under 10 percent for the year compared to fiscal year 2004-05. The growth exceeded projections, Gov. Kenny Guinn said.
The total collections for the year are $53.1 million above the state Economic Forum's forecast, made a year ago.
Taxation Department Director Dino DiCianno said the 7 percent showing in June over June 2005 is strong growth. Taxable sales had grown by double digits for a number of months this past 2005-06 fiscal year.
"To maintain double digits is really difficult to do," he said. "Given the state of the economy right now, I'm very much surprised to be doing as well as we are."
The monthly report also included quarterly results for the Modified Business Tax. The agency said the tax, a 0.63 rate for most businesses, generated $64.9 million for the months of April, May and June for a 12.5 percent increase over the same quarter in the prior year.
Businesses reported $9.3 billion in gross wages and took $667 million in allowable health care deductions for the June quarter, which represents 7.2 percent of the gross wages. For the year the tax generated $255 million, a 12.5 percent increase over the prior year.
Excise taxes that are separate from the sales and business levies totaled $856.5 million for the year, up 5.3 percent compared with the previous fiscal year.
A breakdown of the excise taxes shows that cigarette levies were barely above projections, liquor taxes were 10.7 percent above projections and live entertainment taxes were 36 percent below projections from the state's Economic Forum.
